Automatic weighing-scale.



No. 842,688. PATENTED JAN. 29, 19.07. N. NILSON.

AUTOMATIC WEIGHING SCALE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 9, 1905.

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AUTOMATIC YIFEIGIUNG SCALE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 9, 1905.

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i 21 g 20 20 l 24;. 22 as wn-wrd WI TNESSES 8 J N/LS NIL SON No.842,688. PATBNTED JAN. 29, 1907.

N. NILSONf AUTOMATIC WEIGHING SCALE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 9, 1905;

a SHEETS-SHEET 3.

y B) W UNITED STATES NILS NILsov, or WAYZATA, MlNNESOTA.

AUTOMATIC WElGHlNG-SCALE.

No. ceases.

- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 29, 1907.

Application filed May 9, 1905. Serial No. 259,542.

To ctr/M w/wm, "In/(1y cmtcern:

Be it known thatjI, NILs NILSON, of l/Vayzata, Hennepin count-y,Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAutomaticlVeighing-Scales, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to weighing-scales of the rocker type, and isdesigned as an im provement over the scales shown and described inLetters Patent of the United States No. 643,423 and No. 702,463, issuedto me February 13,1900, and June 17, 1902.

. The object of my invention is to provide an automatic rocker or leverscale which can be easily and quickly brought to a balance without goingthrough the annoying oscillating period usually incident to scales ofthis kind.

A further object is to provide a scale capable of weighing an extremelylight or heavy article, as desired.

A further object is to provide a scale that is comparatively simple inconstruction and strong and durable and not liable to get out of orderand one that .will be extremely accurate and reliable in its operation.

The invention consists, generally, in providing a lever or rocker scalewherein the load to be weighed is applied to the lever be tween thefulcrum and the balance-weight, thereby preventing the usual amount ofoscillation characteristic of scales of this type.

Further, the invention consists in providing a scale having a beamadapted to receive a load at either end and capable, therefore, ofweighing very light or comparatively heavy articles.

Further, the invention consists in providing a scale adapted to weigh upto a certain number of pounds and then by the addition of a weight madecapable of weighing an additional load.

Further, the invention consists in various constructions andcombinations, all as here inafter described, and particularly pointedout in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure1 is a front elevation, partly insection, of a \\"eigliingscaleembodying my invention. Fig. 2 is an end view of the scale with thecasing inc-los ing the operating mechanism partially broken away. Fig. 3is a front view with the dial removed, illustrating the rockermechanism. Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line :10 (l; of Fig. 3.Fig. 5 is a front view showing a computing-dial that is adapted to beplaced over the dial shown in Fig. 1, the indicatinghand being removed.Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the line y y of Fig. 3. Fig. 7 is asectional view on the line 2 z of Fig. 1, illustrating the connectionbetween the standard of the scale-platform and the base of the scale.

In the drawings, 2 represents the base of the scale whereon uprightstandards 3 and 4 are arranged, the latter being hollow to receive themechanism connecting the scalelealm with the rockers or levers betweenthe 5 is the scale-beam having the usual knifeedge bearings 6 on thestandard 3 and provided on its short arm with bearings 7 for thescale-platform 8, on which the load to be weighed is placed. A hanger 9depends from the under side of the platform 8 through the top of thebase 2 and is provided with a forked lower end 10, having a pin 1 1. Alink 12 has ball-bearings 13 at one end on said pin and is connected atits opposite end to a pin 14, that has ball-bearings 15 in a fork 16,secured to the base 2. This connection allows the standard and thescale-platform to rise and fall with the movement of the scale.

beam,but limits the oscillation of the same.

A circular case 17 is mounted on the standard 4 and carries graduateddials 18, that may be marked to indicate any desired number of pounds,(in this instance, sixteen,) and an auxiliary scale 19 is also providedon one or both of the dials (shown on one) for the purpose hereinafterdescribed.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings, 20 represents linkssupported on a bearing 21 and carrying a yoke 22 at their lower ends. Alever 23 is supported at one end in the yoke 22 and has a curved upperedge, preferably wedge-shaped, to bear upon the fiat under surface ofthe bar 24, that rests at one end upon said lever. Plates 25 and 26,having serrated edges, are secured on said lever and bar, saidserrations meshing with one another to prevent lengthwise movement ofthe lever on said bar, but without in any way interfering with itsrocking motion thereon. This feature of the scale has been, however,fully described inthe patents above referred to, and I make no claim tothe same herein. A yoke 27, also similar to the one described in myformer patents, is supported at one end by a spindle 28, that hasball-bearings 29 at each end in boxes 30, secured to the casing of thedials. The opposite end of said yokehas the middle and the loadandbalance-weight similar ball-bearings on a spindle 31, carried by acasting 32, to which one end of the bar 24 is bolted. The casting 32 hasan upright arm 33, whereon the balance or poise weight of the scale 34is secured. The upper end of the arm 33 is forked and has bearings forone end of a rod 35, whose opposite end is carried by a fixed bearing 36on the" casing. This rod serves to hold the arm 33 in an uprightposition and while allowing vertical oscillation of the levers and barsprevents sidewise movement thereof. The bar 23 is curved downwardlybetween the sides of the yoke 27 and has a bracket-37 on its end restingin the forked upper end-cf the rod 38, which is supported at its lowerend in a bearing 39 on the long arm of the scale-beam 5, said bearingbeing adjustable, by means of set-screws 40, to permit the beam to beproperly adjusted to a standard weight. A turnbuckle device 41 ispreferably provided in the rod 38, by means of which its length can bevaried in adjusting the scale. 7

From an examination of Fig. 3 it will be noted that the load on thescale is applied to the lever or rocker at a point between its fulcrumand the balance-weight instead of having the fulcrum in the middle, theload on one side and the balance-weight on the other, as in one of myformer patents above referred to. I regard this arrangement of thefulcrum and balance-weight as a decided improvement over theconstruction shown in my former patents, and it is also a very importantfeature of this scale, for I have'fcund by its use that practicallyallof the escillation incident to a scale havingthe fulcrum in on eachside is avoided, and I am able to bring the scale to a balance in muchless time and with more accuracy than has been possible with scales asordinarilyconstructed.

In the rear of the rocker lever and bar are upright arms 42, havingball-l'iearings similar to those described for a spindle 43, arrangedbetween them and carrying indieator-hands 44, that travel over the faceof the dials as the spindle is revolved. One end of the hand points tothe outer circle of graduations on the dial, and the other end, which Iwill designate by numeral 45, is provided with a loop to distinguish itfrom the opposite end and travels over the grit-durations l9 and in adirection opposite to the direction of movement of the other end of thehand. A pinion 46 is secured on the spindle 43 and meshes with arack-bar 47, connected at its lower end to a spring 48, mounted in apivoted arm 49 on the scale-beam 5. A weight 50, carried by said arm,normally holds the rack-bar in eni gagement with the teeth of thepinion, and i the spring serves to relieve the shock or jar on i thehand resulting from its sudden arrest of movement. 1 T he rack-bar isprevented from moving out of contact with the pinion bya suitable stop51. When a load is placed on the platform 8, the scale-beam 5 will betilted and the indicator-hand moved over the face of the dial. Thelifting force of the load will be applied to the rocker-lever 28 at apoint between the fulcrum of said lever and the balance-weight of thescale, and the said lever rocking on the bar 24 will come to a balancevery quickly and with comparatively little preliminary oscillation, andconsequently the indicator-hand will move in the first instance over thegraduation representing the weight on the scale without swinging backand forth from one side to the other of said graduation before finallycoming to a stop. It is therefore possible to weigh articles on thescale very quickly and accurately. It is sometimes desirable in a scaleof this kind to weigh an article that is heavier than the total of. thegraduations on the dials. I therefore provide a stop 52on the rod 38,adapted to support a removable weight 53. If, for instance, thegraduations on the dials indicate fifteen pounds and it is desired toweigh an article of twenty pounds or more, the operator will hang theauxiliary weight 53 on the red 38, and then noting that this weight willbalance the scale with fifteen pounds on the platform will add theamount in pounds indicated by the pointer on the dial to the total ofthe graduations thereon, and thus arrive accurately at the weight of thelt: ad on the scale-platform, assuming, of course, that the weight 53will just balance the scale with a load of fifteen pounds. If it isdesired to weigh out a package of a comme dity representing more inpounds than the total of the graduations on the dialas,for instance,sugar or flourthe person using the scale will hang the auxiliary weighton the rod 38 and deposit the commodity upon the scale-platform untilthe desired weight is reached, and then the sum of the total gradualiensof the dial and the graduation to which the hand points after thecommodity has been placed upon the scale-platform will be the totalweight of the load. It is also desirable in a scale of this kind toprovide means for weighing a very light article, too light, in fact, tobe readable on the dial. I therefore mount a hopper 54 on the rod 38 andplace a light weight, such as weight 53, on the scaleplatform to movethe end 45 of the indicator hand to the zero-point of graduations 19. lthen place the article to be weighed in the hopper 54, and the hand 45moving over the graduaticns 19 will indicate the weight of the article.The weight in the hopper will have a long leverage on thescale-platform, and consequently a very small article in the hopper willbalance a considerable weight on the platform, and I am thus able toaccurately weigh very small articles or a very little quantity of acommodity which ordinarily cannot be weighed on a scale of this type.

hand from the dial on one side and substituting in place thereof acomputing-dial 55,

' which revolves past a fixed bar 56, provided with marks or graduationsrepresenting the price per poun of the articles being sold. The outeredge of the dial is graduated to represent pounds and fractions thereof,and the space between the graduations and the eenter of the dial isutilized for marks representing the purchase-price of the differentarticles of different weight. This is the ordinary computing-dial, andthe price of the article sold is determined in the usual way by glancingat the dial after the article has been placed on the scale-platform.

I claim as my invention 1,. In "an automatic scale, the combination witha frame, of members rocking one upon the other and havinsupporting-pivots, a balance-weight carrie by one of said members, a.guiding means connecting said balance-weight member with said frame andmeans for applying the pressure of the lead to be weighed to the othermember at a point between its pivots and said balanceweight,substantially as described.

2. In an automatic scale, the combination,

with a frame, of opposing contacting members having respectively plainand curved faces and rocking one upon another and havingsupporting-pivots, a balance-weight carried by one of said members, aguiding means for said balaneeweight member, and means for applying thepressure of the load to be weighed to the other member at a pointbetween its pivots and said balance-weight, substantially as described.

3. I'm an automatic scale, the combination,

'with an opposing contacting-lever and a bar rocking one upon the otherand pivotally supported near one end, a balance-weight provided near theopposite end of said bar, and means for applying the pressure of theload to be weighed to said lever at a point between said pivots and saidbalance-weight, for the purpose specified.

4. In an automatic scale, the combination,

with a rocker-lever 23 having supportinglinks 20,of a bar 24'contactingwith said lever 23, a yoke 27 pivotally supported at one end near saidlinks 20 and having a pivotal connection with said bar at its oppositeend, a balance-weight support near the pivots of said yoke 27 onsaidbar, and means for ap' plying the pressure of the load to be weighedto said lever at a point between said links 20 and said balance-weight,substantially as described.

5. In-an automatic scale, the combination, with a rocker-lever 23 andlinks 20, of a bar 24 contacting with said lever, a yoke 27 pivotallsupported at one end near said links and aving at its opposite end apivotal conneotion with said bar, a casting 32 whereon said bar isboliied and having an arm 33, a weight carried by said arm, and meansfor applying pressure of the load'lo be weighed to said lever betweenits pivots and said weight, substantially as described.-

6. In an automatic scale, a pivoted beam having a short arm and aplatform carried thereby, a graduated dial, an indicator-hand therefor,a lever mechanism operatively connecLed with said hand and the long armof said beam for balancing the load on said platform, and a removableweight arranged between said mechanism and said beam to depress saidlong arm and balance a predetermined load 011 said platform to adapt thescale for weighing a greater load than represented by the total of thegraduations on the dial, substantially as described.

7. In an automatic scale, a pivoted beam having a short arm and aplatform carried thereby, a graduated dial, an indicator-hand therefor,opposing cont acting members rocking one upon the other and connectedwith said beam, means connecting said indicator with said beam, and aremovable weight clevice provided on the connection between saidopposing members and said beam and adapted to balance a predeterminedload on said platform to adapt the scale for weighing a greater loadthan represented by the total of the graduations on the dial,substantially as described.

8. In an automatic scale, a pivoted beam having a short arm and aplatform carried thereby, a graduated dial, an indicator-hand thereforoperatively connected with the long arm of said beam, opposingcontacting members having movable pivots, a rod connecting one of saidmembers with the long arm of said beam, and a weight removably arrangedon said rod, for the purpose specified.

9. In an automatic scale, a pivoted beam having a short arm and aplatform carried thereby, a dial having primary and second arygraduaiions the latter representing fractions of the former and beingreadable in the opposite direction, an indicator arranged to travel oversaid primary and secondary graduations and operatively connected withthe long arm of said pivoted beam, opposing members having movablepivots, a rod connecting one of said members and the long arm of saidbeam, and a hopper provided on said rod and adapted to contain anarticle whose weight'is indicated by the backward movement of thepointer over said secondary gradnations, substantially as described.

10. In an automatic scale, a pivoted beam having a short arm and aplatform thereon, a dial having primary and secondary graduations, thelatter representing fractions of the former and being readable in theopposite direction, a pointer having one end to travel over said primarygraduations and the other in the opposite direction over the secondarygraduations, and means connecting said pointer with the long arm of saidbeam.

11. In an automatic scale, a pivoted beam having-a short arm andplatform thereon, a dial having primary and secondary graduations, thelatter representing fractions of the former and being readable in the oposite direction, a pointer having one en to travel over said primarygraduations and the other endin the opposite direction over saidsecondary graduations, means connecting said poilner vn'ih the long armof said beam, and a support provided on said connecting means andwhereon comparatively light articles can be placed and theirWeightindicated by the movement of said pointer over said secondarygraduations, substantially as described.

12. In an automatic scale, the combina tion with a frame, of opposingcontacting members rocking one upon the other and havingsupporting-pivots near one end, a balance-Weight provided at theopposite end of one of said members, means for apg'ilying the pressureof the load to be weighed to the other member at a point between saidpivet 1-; and said balance-weight, and a rod pin-,1 ally connecting saidweight-oarqving n a oer with said frame, for the purpose spec 1m.

In Witness whereof I have liereuiii o w my hand this 2d day of May,1905.

' NILS Nllbi )X.

Witnesses 2 RICHARD PAUL, C. MA'CNAMARA.

